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Ernest Hemingway, a towering figure in 20th-century literature, transformed his firsthand experiences from numerous wars into profound and moving stories such as A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls. His passion for the outdoors also inspired metaphorical masterpieces like Big Two-Hearted River and the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Old Man and the Sea. Below are 10 intriguing facts about the author affectionately known as Papa, born on July 21, 1899.
1. Ernest Hemingway was honored with the Italian Silver Medal of Valor and a Bronze Star.
During World War I, Hemingway worked as an ambulance driver in Italy. On July 8, 1918, despite being severely injured by mortar fire, he heroically assisted an Italian soldier to safety, earning him the Italian Silver Medal of Valor. Nearly three decades later, the U.S. recognized his bravery during World War II by awarding him a Bronze Star for his courageous reporting as a journalist in the European theater. His work was featured in publications like Collier’s and other prominent magazines.
2. Ernest Hemingway faced—and was exonerated from—war crime allegations.
After D-Day on June 6, 1944, Hemingway, though a civilian barred from landing on Omaha Beach, took charge of a group of Resistance fighters in Rambouillet, France, to collect intelligence. However, the Geneva Convention prohibits war correspondents from leading armed groups. The Third Army's Inspector General accused Hemingway of multiple violations, such as removing his journalist identification patches, hoarding weapons in his hotel, and leading Resistance members. He was later exonerated of all charges.
Hemingway consistently claimed he only served as an advisor. In a 1951 letter to The New York Times, he explained that he “possessed knowledge of guerilla warfare and irregular tactics, as well as formal military strategy, and was eager to contribute his skills to any task within his capabilities.”
3. Gertrude Stein served as godmother to Ernest Hemingway's son, Jack.
Gertrude Stein, the celebrated American modernist writer, relocated to Paris in 1903 and held frequent salons attended by prominent artists and intellectuals, including Pablo Picasso, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a young Ernest Hemingway. In 1923, Stein became the godmother to Hemingway’s eldest son, Jack.
4. Ernest Hemingway was reportedly recruited as a KGB spy—though his espionage skills were lacking.
In 1941, when Collier's assigned renowned war correspondent Martha Gellhorn to cover a story in China, Hemingway, her husband, joined her and contributed reports for PM. Soviet Union records, uncovered in a 2009 book, suggest Hemingway was recruited as a willing informant just before the trip, receiving the codename “Argo.” However, the documents reveal he provided no valuable political intelligence, lacked espionage training, and remained on their active source list only until the late 1940s.
5. Ernest Hemingway once inspected F. Scott Fitzgerald's anatomy in a Paris restroom.
In his 1964 memoir A Moveable Feast, Hemingway recounted a peculiar incident involving F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby author confided that his wife Zelda had ridiculed his manhood, claiming he couldn’t satisfy a lover. Hemingway, offering to assess the situation, escorted Fitzgerald to the restroom at Michaud's, a famed Parisian restaurant, to inspect the matter firsthand. Hemingway concluded that Fitzgerald was perfectly normal in size and advised him to visit the Louvre’s nude statues for reassurance.
6. One of Ernest Hemingway's greatest works was inspired by forgotten luggage at the Ritz Hotel in Paris.
Regarding A Moveable Feast, Hemingway penned it later in life (it was published after his death) following a 1956 visit to the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where he was reminded of a steamer trunk (custom-made by Louis Vuitton) he had stored in the hotel’s basement in 1930. Upon opening it, he rediscovered personal letters, menus, outdoor equipment, and stacks of notebooks that formed the foundation for his memoir about his youthful days in Paris's vibrant café culture.
7. The famous "Baby Shoes" tale is likely just a myth.
Interestingly, a story often attributed to Hemingway probably has no connection to him. The tale claims that during a night of drinking, Hemingway bet his friends he could craft a six-word story. Skeptical, they wagered money, and Hemingway scribbled on a napkin: “For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.” He won the bet. However, there’s no proof this ever occurred. Similar stories appeared in newspapers as early as the 1910s without mentioning Hemingway, and no record ties him to the phrase until 1991, in a book about publishing, long after his death.
8. Ernest Hemingway narrowly escaped death in consecutive plane crashes.
In 1954, Hemingway and his fourth wife, Time and Life journalist Mary Welsh, were on vacation in the Belgian Congo when their sightseeing plane struck a pole and crashed. The next day, while trying to reach medical help in Entebbe, they boarded another plane that crashed during takeoff, leaving Hemingway with burns, a concussion, and a cerebral fluid leak. Upon finally reaching Entebbe by truck, they discovered journalists had already reported their deaths, allowing Hemingway to read his own obituaries.
9. Ernest Hemingway dedicated a book to every one of his four wives.
After each divorce, Hemingway remarried within a year—but he ensured his literary legacy included tributes to his former partners. The Sun Also Rises was dedicated to his first wife, Elizabeth Hadley Richardson; Death in the Afternoon honored his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer; For Whom the Bell Tolls was inscribed to his third wife, Martha Gellhorn; and Across the River and Into the Trees bore the dedication “To Mary with Love.”
10. Ernest Hemingway's Key West home boasts a urinal from his favorite bar.
Hemingway penned several of his most famous works, such as To Have and Have Not, at his Key West residence. It’s also where he repurposed a urinal from a local bar into a fountain. Sloppy Joe’s, a beloved local bar frequented by the author, underwent renovations, prompting Hemingway to claim one of the urinals as his own, joking that he had invested enough money into it to justify the keepsake.
Do you adore reading? Are you curious to uncover fascinating facts about authors and their creations? Then don’t miss our new book, The Curious Reader: A Literary Miscellany of Novels and Novelists, releasing May 25!
